Sliding door guide



Jan. 23, 1962 F. HILLSON ET Al. 3,017,656

SLIDING DOOR GUIDE Filed Oct. 20, 1959 INVENTORS. Fran/6 Bi f/ 11? Y Rubin Krzz/zs/y ATTORNEY 3,017,656 SLIDING DOOR GUIDE Frank Hillson, 48 Brentwood Drive, Verona, N.J., and Rubin Krivisky, 4 Sherman Drive, Spring Valley, N .Y. Filed Oct. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 847,610 7 Claims. (Cl. 16-90) Our invention relates generally to sliding door guides and more specifically, to an adjustable sliding door guide which may accommodate sliding doors of widely varying thicknesses.

There are a wide variety of sliding door guides presently available generally characterized by a base and a plurality of upstanding walls formed integrally with the base and, collectively, defining a plurality of channels of a fixed Width. Such guides are impractical since guides of diiferent sizes must be manufactured for each size of sliding door available. Moreover, such guides cannot accommodate irregularities in size in individual doors.

Therefore, it is among the objects of our invention to provide a sliding door guide which is adjustable to accommodate doors of widely varying thicknesses.

Another object of our invention is to provide a sliding door guide which is adjustable to accommodate a pair of sliding doors each having a different thickness.

Still another object of our invention is to provide a sliding door guide which is adjustable to accommodate for irregularities in the thickness of individual doors.

A further object of our invention is to provide a sliding door guide which may be employed to quickly and easily position the bottom, longitudinal edge of sliding doors after they have been hung.

Yet another object of our invention is to provide a sliding door guide in which upstanding walls defining channels may be adjusted to accommodate doors of varying thickneseses without moving the base.

Yet a further object of our invention is to provide a sliding door guide which may be adjusted to the proper door thickness and secured in position in one operation.

Still another object of our invention is to provide a sliding door guide which may be fabricated of any fricdon-resistant, wear-resistant, synthetic material such as nylon.

These objects and advantages as well as other objects and advantages may be achieved by our invention, one embodiment of which is illustrated in the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a base plate employed in our invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side, cross-sectional view of the base plate taken along line 22 in FIGURE 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 3 is a view in perspective of an adjustable guide member employed in our invention.

FIGURE 4 is a view in perspective of a stationary guide member employed in our invention.

FIGURE 5 is a view in perspective of our sliding door guide assembled.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, our invention, comprises a base plate 11. The base plate 11 is provided with a pair of generally rectangular openings '12, 13, having generally the same size. The base plate 11 is also provided with a narrow slot 14. The peripheral edges of the base plate 11 are deformed downwardly to provide a peripheral, downwardly projecting, longitudinal lip '15.

A pair of adjustable guide members 16, 17, are positioned within the openings 12, 13, in the base plate 11, as is shown in FIGURE 5. The adjustable guide members 16, 17, are exactly alike in both shape and size. Each guide member comprises an L-shaped base 18. A

ted States Patent 3,017,656 Patented Jan. 23, 1962 rality of score lines 24 to facilitate the cutting or'breaking of the leg.

A stationary guide member 25, is positioned within the narrow slot 14 in the base plate 11 in the manner shown in FIGURE 5. The stationary guide member 25 comprises an elongated, rectangular base 26 and an upstanding wall 27 which, for convenience, may be formed integrally with the base 26. The upstandingwall 27 is dimensioned to pass through the narrow slot 14 in the base plate 11.

In operation, the adjustable guide members 16, 17, are positioned under the base plate 11 so that the upstanding walls 20, 20 will project upwardly through the openings 12, '13 in the base plate 11. The adjustable guide members 16, 17 are oriented so that the upstanding walls 20, 20 are parallel to the upstanding wall 27 of the stationary guide member 25 positioned in the narrow slot 14. The guide members 16, 17 are oriented so that the legs 21 project beyond the lateral edges of the base plate 11, as is shown in FIGURE 5. However, the adjustable guide members 16, 17 and the openings 12, 13 in the base plate 11 are so dimensioned that the legs 21 will not project laterally beneath the downwardly turned peripheral lip 15 of the base plate 11. The lip 15 is provided with a pair of openings 28, '29, to accommodate the ends 23 of the legs 21. In addition, the

legs 21 are dimensioned long enough to project beyond the ends of the base plate 11 when the upstanding walls is provided with a pair of elongated holes 32, 3-3 to accommodate screws 34, 35 which secure the base plate and the adjustable guide members 16, 17 to the doorsill.

When the adjustable guide members '16, 17 and the stationary guide member 25 are positioned beneath the base plate 11, the base plate 11 is placed on the door sill in such a position that the upstanding wall 27 on the stationary guide member 25, abuts the outside surface of the first sliding door. The end 23 of the leg 21 is pulled outwardly away from the door until the upstanding wall 20 of the adjustable guide member 17 abuts against the inside of the first sliding door. The upstanding wall 27 of the stationary guide member 25 and the upstanding wall 20 of the adjustable guide member 17 define a channel 36 for the first sliding door. The second sliding door is then positioned adjacent to the first sliding door, and the leg 21 of the adjustable guide member 16 is pushed inwardly toward the door until the upstanding wall 20 abuts against the outside surface of the second door. Thus, upstanding wall 20 on the adjustable guide member 16 and upstanding wall 20 on adjustable guide member 17 define a second channel 37 for the second sliding door. The sliding door guide is then in its proper position. The doors are moved to one side and screws inserted through holes 32 and 33 in the base plate 11 and respectively through a cooperative hole 22 in each adjustable guide members -16, 17; and fastened into the door sill. When the base plate 11 and the L- shaped base 18 of the adjustable guide members 16, 17 are compressed together, the peripheral lips 15, on the base plate 11, will just touch the door sill thereby presenting a smooth joint. The protruding end 23 of the leg- 21 of each guide member 16, 17, may be cut or broken ofi flush with the edge of the base plate 11. Score lines 24 are provided on the ends 23 of the legs 21- to facilitate breaking or cutting.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodiment of the invention. The component parts have been shown and described. They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similar function; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for the said components and may have actually been known or invented before the present invention; these substitutes are contemplated as being within the scope of the appended claims, although they are not specifically catalogued herein.

We claim:

1. A sliding door guide comprising a base plate having a narrow slot and an elongated opening, a stationary vertical guide member projecting upwardly through the narrow slot, a base formed on the stationary vertical guide member positioned beneath the base plate and dimensioned larger than the slot, a longitudinally movable vertical guide member projecting upwardly through the elongated opening, a lateral base leg formed on the mvable guide member dimensioned wider than the elongated opening, a longitudinal base leg formed on. the lateral base leg dimensioned to project beyond a lateral edge of the base plate, and means to secure the movable guide member against relative movement with respect to the base plate.

2. A sliding door guide comprising a base plate having a narrow slot adjacent to one lateral edge, a first elongated opening adjacent to the slot, and a second elongated opening adjacent to the opposite lateral edge of the base plate, a stationary vertical guide member projecting upwardly through the narrow slot, a base formed on the stationary vertical guide member positioned beneath the base plate and dimensioned larger than the slot, a first longitudinally movable vertical guide member projecting upwardly through the first elongated opening, .a lateral base leg formed on the first movable guide member being dimensioned wider than the first elongated opening, and a longitudinal base leg formed on the lateral base leg dimensioned to project beyond one lateral edge of the base plate, a second longitudinally movable vertical guide member projecting upwardly through the second elongated opening, a lateral base leg formed on the second movable guide member being dimensioned wider than the second elongated opening, and a longitudinal base leg formed on the lateral base leg dimensioned to project beyond the opposite lateral edge of the base plate, and means to secure both the first and second movable vertical guide members against relative movement with respect to the base plate.

3. A sliding door guide in accordance with claim 1 in which the base plate is provided with a peripheral, downwardly projecting lip.

'4. A sliding door guide in accordance with claim 1 in which the base plate is provided with a peripheral, downwardly projecting lip.

5. A sliding door guide in accordance with claim 1, and a downwardly projecting lip on the periphery of the base plate, said lip projecting downwardly a distance slightly less than the thickness of the lateral and longitudinal base legs on the movable, vertical guide member.

6. A sliding door guide in accordance with claim 1 in which the longitudinal base leg on the movable guide member is provided with a plurality of elongated holes, the base plate is provided with an elongated hole cooperatively positioned above the holes in the longitudinal base leg, said holes adapted to receive a screw.

7. A sliding door guide in accordance with claim 2 in which the longitudinal base leg of both the first and second movable guide members is each provided with a plurality of elongated holes, the base plate is provided with a plurality of elongated holes cooperatively positioned above the holes of each longitudinal leg, said holes being adapted to receive screws to secure the movable guide member against relative movement with respect to the base plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 257,189 Scoville May 2, 1882 1,162,407 Semerak Nov. 30, 1915 1,560,828 Kopp Nov. 10, 1925 1,561,290 Wicke Nov. 10, 1925 2,750,622 Stark June 19, 1956 2,939,167 Preston June 7, 1960 2,949,626 Blackmer Aug. 23, 1960 

